Little Nicky and Ghost Rider deserve some space here. And if crap like Omen are included then Spawn and The First Power should fit in the top 20. There are probably less than 100 movies with the devil in a large role. And usually they all stink. Exorcist 2 is like Blade Trinity, there are great scenes and then horrible rancid flop covers the screen. Not that part 3 or the prequels are much better.

Am I the only person who thinks THE OMEN is overrated, laughable, non-scary,poorly acted shit? I have never been cared by The Omen and the only performance that seemed watchable was David Warner. If I acted that way going to church, or I should say when I acted like the kid upon approaching the church my mom beat the shit out of me. I was smacked on the way in while approaching the pew.

I loved the Omen and Omen II. It has those mousetrap death scenes like Final Destination, but weirder because of the kid. Maybe it was the time period when the first two were made, I don't know. The wealthy still seemed to have a kind of mystique and everyone watched shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and they even made shows for kids like Silver Spoons and Facts of Life that reflected this fascination we all had with wealth. It probably does seem like a more ridiculous premise today because we live in the age of Paris Hilton. We no long assume that wealth and priviledge automatically breed intelligence and the capacity to wield any kind of power.

Invisioner, thank you for mentioning that hallway scene in Exorcist III. It was probably one of the scariest scenes I have ever watched in a movie. The statue coming to life made it worse. It didn`t help that when I saw it, the movie theater was empty except for me and a friend.

Personally, I think special mention should be made for Liz Hurley`s portayal as the Devil in the remake of Bedazzled. Yes, it was comedic but she definitely portrayed ole Lucifer pretty well. Oh, and Viggo Mortensen in The Prophecy and Peter Stormare in Constantine were both really cool Devil portrayals.

My favorite has always been Tim Curry's version in Ridley Scott's Legend but it has to be seen with the original Tangerine Dream soundtrack and NOT the John Williams scored version (why the hell that came out I do not know. I do not want to hear Mia Sara sing). All the movies ya'll are mentioning are really good too and I would also like to add, even though the whole film wasn't based on or around the character was the portrayal of the devil in Fantasia.

We can speak of the visceral slashing effects used in Saw and Hostile; you know that stark- in your face type of blood-letting, forcing you to confront your mortality.
We can debate whether Jason Voorhees was more effective in the first installment of the franchise rather than in the successive sequels. But sirs- when we speak of The Exorcist, we are talking about a movie that really has no rival in terms of sheer scare value.
Young men/women of today have seen many movies since it aired, exposed and educated from a wide range of special effects and video commentary. They’ve become desensitized in part to on-screen movie violence. But Exorcist hits you on a mental level.
In the scene where Lieutenant Kinderman turns to leave, just after the interview with Regan’s Mother; we see Chris shut the door- then pause and contemplate the significance of his visit.
Just when you think everything is ok- (cause we have let our guard down) we forgot about the little girl upstairs, sleeping peacefully. Then you hear it. Slap!!! Please! No! “You bitch! Do it! Do it!” This is in broad daylight too. Not during a harrowing thunderstorm, with lightening cracking through the windows. The house shakes- and the all hell breaks out.
We are afraid for Chris as well as the little girl. Something- or someone is up there in the room with her- forcing her do unspeakable things. You follow along with her as she runs up the stairs frantically fearing for her baby’s life.
You share in the horror as the camera focuses on her face in the open door- her attention is drawn camera-right amidst the flailing records; and then you see it.
No other movie has been able to do what that one scene alone was able to do to us; even if you just forget the head spinning sequence. That was the scene we saw in the trailers; Chris opening the door and then halting in utter horror. Exorcist 3 relied way too much on a preponderance of sound effects and seat jolting scare moments. It was good- but it failed to compete on the same level as its predecessor.
Gib